Monday, 21 December 2009

With the much talked-about budget in
the region of $300 million dollars and at 161minutes in length Avatar
3D is clearly epic in it's aspirations. So, in order to prepare for
this cinematic odessey, I thought it best to refamiliarise myself
with some of James Cameron's earlier work and revisited Aliens and
Titanic. Aliens is a favourite movie of mine and I think I'm probably
alone in the world by saying I don't like Titanic but I wanted a
sense of balance and a big budget vehicle to judge Avatar by. Where
Aliens has a taut storyline and superb alien special effects, Titanic
still seems to wallow in unecessary self-indulgence to the detriment
of the cast and plot, something I've always found distasteful
considering the horrific tragedy that the real Titanic was. So, would
Avatar 3D be an Aliens or a Titanic?

By the time we were due to see Avatar
3D, two things had happened. One, people were talking about it being
'Dances with Wolves' but with 'nine foot smurfs' and two, half a foot
of snow fell followed by a whole load of freezing weather. So,
digging the drive to try and get to the cinema on time for our
pre-booked tickets, while making sure the car had necessary
provisions should we get stuck in a snowdrift did seem slightly OTT
just for a film. This is the first time I've ever taken flasks,
blankets, wellingtons and a shovel with me to the cinema and so the
movie didn't just have to live up to all the marketing hype but be
worth all the effort expended to get there as well.

The central character is Jake Sully
(Sam Worthington), a former Marine, now in a wheelchair who, after
the death of his twin brother, is recruited to the Avatar Program on
the distant planet of Pandora. Here he is to become an Avatar
controller in order to help persuade the Na'vi, the indigenous
population, to leave their forest dwelling and allow the mining of a
precious mineral needed back on earth. What follows is a story woven
around the good guys, Jake and the Avatar science team befriending
the Na'vi and battling against the inexorable, faceless corporate
machine, rapacious for the precious mineral and prepared to destroy
the forest and all who dwell in it.

The plot is solid and though it may
meander slowly through the first half, it is easy to become totally
engrossed in the superb visualisation of Pandora. A whole new
planet's ecosystem has been created to make the depth and detail
afforded by 3D a real treat. The second half of the movie gains
momentum with epic battle scenes and a love story crossing boundaries
of culture, species and technology. The cast is great, headed up ably
by a cigarette smoking Sigourney Weaver and featuring Wes Studi,
Michelle Rodriguez, Stephen Lang and Zoe Saldana. It is clearly aimed
at the teen eco-warrior/gaming market but certainly as a family movie
(ages ranging from 9 up) this is without doubt a Christmas treat. As
to whether it's another Aliens or Titanic I shall sum it up, in the
words of our eleven year old ...'It has love, courage,
cowardice...and weapons!'

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

Roland Emerich's (Stargate,
Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) latest movie, 2012 is on a
global scale. The premise is simple, in the year 2012 there will be a
solar flare of such magnitude it will rip apart the world as we know
it. The story follows various individuals trying to survive this
event and interweaves their destinies along the way. There are vague
references to Mayan calandars and Dan Brown-style conspiracies but
these are really red herrings for what is simply a good old fashioned
disaster movie.

In order to achieve the astounding
special effects, the Yellowstone caldera exploding, cities
collapsing, earthquakes and tidal waves, computer generated imagery
is seamlessly integrated with live action and hats off the the actors
for making it feel believable. The cast is headed up by John Cusack
(Grosse Pointe Blank, High Fidelity, War Inc.) who plays an everyman
by the name of Jackson Curtis, a little known author
(http://www.farewellatlantis.com)
just trying to keep his dysfunctional family alive. Chitwetel Ejiofor
plays the government geologist with a conscience and the rest of the
cast include Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover
and Woody Harrelson (Woody Harrelson manages to salvage his
over-the-top acting of a conspiracy theorist DJ by the seat of his
pants!). While the science bits are well and truly dodgy, so
numerously dodgy that I'm not even going to go there, the fast-paced
action is right on track and the 158 minutes fly by in jaw-droppingly
spectacular style. This is a movie that needs a big screen and
suggest you see it at a cinema while you can. If you liked 'The Day
After Tomorrow' then 2012 is it's bigger and eye-poppingly bolder
brother.

Sunday, 8 November 2009

To mark the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I thought I'd post up a poem about walls. This wasn't written about the Berlin Wall but does cover the themes of freedom and liberty. (Please feel free to add links in the comments to your own poems/thoughts/memories about the Berlin Wall.)

Sometimes the news is hard enough to hearLet alone live throughWe have let hate winIf we allow for one minute these borders of hateTo run among usDividing our hearts, separating our minds

The truth is thisThe medieval mindset that brings violence, distrustFear and hate to every doorstep is no weapon at allAgainst loveThe sanctuary you crave is the human heartAnd it beats in every one of us

Friday, 6 November 2009

Last Saturday was spent at the Delphi Truck Superprix at Brands Hatch watching 1000bhp turbocharged five-tonne monsters thundering round Paddock Hill Bend, charging up to Druids and, occaisionally careering off at Graham Hill Bend. Despite the chill and misty start to the day the sight and sound of these trucks is truly spectacular and it was great to see Brands Hatch looking immaculate and well-cared for.Among those racing was Andy Akinwolere from BBC's Blue Peter who, having passed his driving test 2007 was set the challenge of gaining his HGV licence, racing licence and then competing in competition. You can find out how he fared on Tuesday 10th November at 4.35pm on BBC1.Also racing were Ginettas and Mazdas, the Dunlop Motorsport News Saloons, Pick-up Trucks and Legends Cars UK. Don't ask me how the Legends work out the points for their races, it's very complicated with ballots, reverse grids and points for various heats but I can tell you that these 5/8th scale cars are based on 1930s American NASCAR models.

The Legends racing towards Graham Hill Bend.

Nippy and suprisingly easy to park, driver and truck OK, barrier totally totalled. Time for an early lunch as repairs take place.

Thursday, 15 October 2009

It's blog action day today and this year's topic is climate change. I thought I'd put up some links on the action the Liberal Democrats are undertaking to secure a fairer and greener future for us and our families.

"Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to set the example and make a commitment for a 10% reduction in public sector emissions in 2010," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy and Climate Change SecretaryHave a look at this page on the Liberal Democrat website.

The Liberal Democrats have been praised as the only political party "that gets it" by one of the country's leading environmentalists. Have a look at this page on the Liberal Democrat website.

Nick Clegg launches 'One Planet One Voice' Have a look at this page on the Liberal Democrat website.

'A healthy natural environment is crucial not only to our quality of life but also to the sustainability of life on the planet. Liberal Democrats recognise that the threat to biodiversity and the depletion of our natural resources are as great a threat as climate change.' Have a look at this page on the Liberal Democrat website.

Energy prices should be fairer and simpler. Have a look at this page on the Liberal Democrat website.

As an individual, it can be hard to know what actions will help with climate change and whether those actions really can have any effect at all. At the next general election there is one simple action you can take to ensure a fairer and greener future for us all, vote Liberal Democrat.

Have a look at this page on the Liberal Democrat Economic Recovery Plan.

Tuesday, 6 October 2009

Hurray! It's that time again when the Review trawls back through a couple of year's worth of reviewed stuff and tries to decide who deserves a lovely Ripplestone Review certificate for glorious music, outstanding cinema, great family entertainment or simply a nice day out. The nominations can be found here and results will be posted on The Ripplestone Review in January 2010.

Wednesday, 16 September 2009

Haven't done a star of the week for a while but surely no one is more deserving than Eddie Izzard and his 43 marathons up and down the UK for Sport Relief.If you didn't get to sponsor him, you can still donate here, read his blog here, read about the event here. What a star!

Saturday, 5 September 2009

- link back to the person who gave you the award;- reveal seven things about yourself;- choose seven other blogs to nominate and post a link to them- let each of your choices know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog;- and finally let the tagger know when your post is up.

So thanks to HappyMouffetard at The Inelegant Gardener for tagging me for this... I'm in two minds as I'm not sure I know seven other bloggers to link to so might well throw that part open for people to nominate themselves through the comments section. Which probably disqualifies me from the whole meme thing...but never mind!

So here's seven things about me that you might or might not already know:

1) Raw pineapple gives me mouth ulcers. (Note about link: Not sure if it's the same one I visited as a kid, but as pineapples go, it's pretty big!)

7) If I ever win big-time in the EuroMillions, I'd buy Apethorpe Hall, now there's a project which would keep me and the boys out of mischief for the rest of our days!

Will post this for now and try and sort out links to other blogs and notifications later. Should anyone want to participate and be one of the seven blogs I have to nominate, please leave a link to your blog in the comments section!

Saturday, 6 June 2009

I was sad to see tv interviews this week with women saying they wouldn't be voting in last Thursday's local elections. Women in the UK have only been able to vote for just over 100 years and it was such a hard won privilege, a battle fought by women regardless of class and situation and with it, it paved the way for equality in so many aspects of our lives. I have trawled around the internet to find some links about the suffragettes and what they achieved for us, especially in the context of being a free and democratic society.

Without this hard won right to vote, this country could not call itself a democracy and if we don't vote, then we are in danger of throwing away one of our basic principles of democracy, that we all have equal access to government. I would urge all women not to be turned off by the political process and the scandals of recent times but to understand how being part of this process will ultimately bring a fairer and more equal balance to our society.